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Kuwait

Top 5 Migrants’ Rights Stories in the Middle East for 2009

January 2nd, 2010Fatima (Saudi Arabia)

After spending another year documenting abuses of migrant workers in the Middle East, it’s time that we look back at the most significant, influential and important stories that we’ve covered.
1. Death of Domestic Migrant Workers in Lebanon
This story is significant not just because of the sheer number of deaths and their alarming frequency, but also [...]

Trash to Treasure: Young artist inspired by trash

December 23rd, 2009Yara Al-Wazir

Reuse is an annual contemporary art exhibition organised by en.v Earth in Kuwait.  It’s putting a zesty twist to the issue of Kuwait’s environment, and rather than preaching, it’s showing the real life effects through art. The exhibition featured many high level attendees, including MP Dr. Rola Dashti, and MP Dr Aseel Al-Awadhi. the pieces [...]

Kuwait is threatened, youth is the victim

October 16th, 2009Yara Al-Wazir

Modern day slavery: a term often confused with residency trading. It’s the million dollar industry that trades human lives. KD 500 if you’re Asian, KD 1000 if you’re an Arab. And the customers? They’re young people desperate for a dream: The Kuwaiti Dream.
The issue of residency trading has been swept under the rug for a while [...]

AudioPodcast: Interview with Yara Al Wazir on The Green Initiative in Kuwait

August 21st, 2009Esra'a (Bahrain)

Yara Al Wazir is a 16 year old student attending the British School in Kuwait. She created the Green Initiative, with a solid mission: “To provide a cleaner, greener, and brighter future for our earth by raising awareness with issues regarding the environment, simaltaneously providing practical and realistic solutions that can be carried out by [...]

Air Pollution in Arab Nations Costing The Public $5 Billion

November 20th, 2008Green Prophet

Air pollution from transportation is costing Arab countries $5 billion in damages, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Environment and Water recently announced. The cost is calculated based on the number of deaths, medical care for health problems and chronic diseases that are attributed to air pollution.
The minister, Dr. Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad, added [...]

The Richest Woman in the Middle East Creates Miya, So There’ll Be Water For All

November 18th, 2008Green Prophet

According to Forbes (2006), she is the richest woman in the Middle East, with assets totaling $5.5 billion. Today she has found a way to merge business and do-gooding for the planet, setting an example for future environmental philanthropists and clean technology experts. Shari Arison, who inherited the Carnival Cruise Line’s fortune and her late [...]

Judge in Halliburton contract corruption trial clashes with defense

October 1st, 2008Ray Hanania (Palestine/USA)

Judge in Halliburton contract corruption trial clashes with defense
By Ray Hanania
(DATELINE Peoria, Il, Sept. 30, 2008) — The judge in the controversial trial of Jeff Mazon, a former Halliburton procurement officer accused of intentionally inflating a contract payment in exchange for a bribe, acknowledged his rulings have caused “some tensions.”
In the second day [...]

Bush administration moves to defend Halliburton and Cheney

September 27th, 2008Ray Hanania (Palestine/USA)

The Bush administration moved to prevent Jeff Mazon from making a defense that would most certainly shift the blame from charges he took a bribe to the more important questionable track record of his former employers, Halliburton.
In a motion made to U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade earlier this month, the Bush administration asked that [...]

A brief guide to Arab World Participation in the Beijing Olympics

August 9th, 2008Ray Hanania (Palestine/USA)

As a Palestinian and an Arab I was extremely proud to see such a large contingent of athletes from the Arab World participating in this year’s Olympics. Even though they are being held in Beijing, one of the most repressive nations in the world, the Chinese people themselves have a tremendous and rich culture and [...]

Kuwait: Enter the misogyny

June 20th, 2008Esra'a (Bahrain)

I read a rather depressing article in Kuwait Times about a draft preparation by Salafist MPs concerning the installation of some rather harsh Islamic laws. Islamist MPs propose these kinds of drafts all over the Gulf, even here in Bahrain, so it isn’t really surprising and it’s highly unlikely that such oppressive laws would be [...]